MOGADISHU (Dawan Africa) – Somalia’s Ministry of Defence has announced that senior Somali defence officials met on Saturday with Egypt’s Defence Attaché in Mogadishu to discuss Cairo’s upcoming contribution to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).
State Minister of Defence Omar Ali Abdi and Somali National Army Land Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Sahal Abdullahi Omar received Col. Ahmed Fathi Abdelsatar Al-Husseini, Egypt’s Defence Attaché, at the Ministry’s headquarters in the capital.
According to the Ministry, the talks focused on bilateral defence cooperation, training initiatives, and military preparedness, with a particular emphasis on Egypt’s planned deployment under AUSSOM.
This Meet comes a week after the Ministry welcomed the completion of the first training programme for units of the Egyptian Armed Forces who are due to deploy to Somalia under AUSSOM.
Egypt will become one of five troop-contributing countries to AUSSOM, alongside Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. The AU mission, which replaced ATMIS, is mandated to support Somali security forces and stabilisation operations, the gradual transfer of security responsibilities to national authorities.
In its statement, the Ministry of Defence said the talks underline Somalia’s broader efforts to expand defence partnerships with regional and international allies in order to build the capacity of the Somali National Army and ensure long-term stability.
